Bitcoin Soars 6% to $81K as Crypto Prices Rise Following Trump's Tariff Pause

Key Points:

• Cryptocurrencies saw a surge after President Donald Trump declared a 90-day pause on tariffs for countries that haven't retaliated against the U.S.

• Trump also increased tariffs on China to 125% while lowering reciprocal tariffs on other countries to 10% during the delay period, according to his social media post.

• Bitcoin surpassed $81,000, and major altcoins like XRP and Solana’s SOL saw gains of over 10%.

Cryptocurrencies surged on Wednesday following news that Donald Trump eased some tariff pressures on countries, with the exception of China.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced a 90-day delay on tariffs and a significantly reduced reciprocal tariff rate of 10% for this period, applying to all countries except China. He also stated that tariffs on China would be raised to 125%, "effective immediately."

Donald Trump's announcement on tariffs on April 9 (Truth Social)

Bitcoin (BTC), which had been hovering around $77,000 during most of the U.S. session, surged above $81,000 on the news, rising 5.5% in the past 24 hours.

Major altcoins saw even larger gains, with XRP, Solana's SOL, Avalanche's AVAX, Chainlink's LINK, Hedera's HBAR, and SUI all posting over 10% increases. Ethereum's ETH climbed to $1,600, up 8% during the same period.

U.S. stocks also reacted positively, with the Nasdaq and the tech-heavy S&P 500 indexes rising 7% and 8.8%, respectively, during the day.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump had posted that it was "a great time to buy."